Brake system failure after changing front pads

If you bled the brakes in the normal way this is your problem. The brakes must be bled with the Toyota techstream (or equivellent) programmer to open valves in the system. I am afraid a trip to your dealer is in order. It is not required or advisable to bleed the brakes when changing pads.

 

About all that you can do is try to reset the codes. There is a procedure here if you search for it that involves jumpering pins in the OBD connector, turning on the car, and pumping the brake 8 times in 5 seconds. If that doesn't work, you will need to see someone with a Techstream or other factory level scan tool that can properly step you through the brake bleeding procedure. The Prius is very picky about having pistons compressed or brakes bled with the ABS relays installed, and it is important for anyone doing this to read up on the procedure.

 

How did you bleed the brakes? They don't work like normal brakes, but instead need the Techstream to properly sequence the valves. A few people have posted about changing brakes without the Techstream, but they were very careful about not introducing air into the system.

Tom

 

Get thee to a dealer, dude, or risk death. And then buy Bentley's or another repair manual. (You *do* already have the Owner's Manual, right? It also is full of stuff you need to know.)

 

I also have changed pads & rotors on other cars for years. I have never had to open the valve on the caliper, only pushed the caliper piston back into place.
Is it not possible to do this on the Prius brake system. ???

 

Maybe you will want to get into the Toyota Techstream business assuming you own a laptop.
All you need is a VCI dongle that allows your laptop to talk to the OBDII connector available on eBay & and the Techstream software is avail on the intertubes for free.

On ebay just search "Toyota Techstream VCI".

Good Luck!

 

First disable the ABS, then pull the caliper and compress the piston for new pads/rotor.

 

I've got a coupon from Open Road Toyota in Port Moody, just came in the flyer mail. It lists a number of services, and one is brake fluid flush, for which they ask something less $100CAN, maybe $79? It's not Prius specific, just Toyota vehicles. It could be when you show up with a Prius it turns out to be an exception, not sure, ie: Prius requires special treatment.

 

I assumed he was implying you could find a pirate copy of the software on the internet.

 

I agree, that price is a little steep, but it would take at least 2 hours, and they may have to do it more than once.

Regarding Techstream software, I do believe, but I have not confirmed, that you can download the software with the 3 day TIS Pro subscription for $55. I have heard that "free" downloads contain viruses. The VCI tool itself looks like a Chinese knockoff of the DrewTech Mongoose. The Tactrix Openport is purported to work with Techstream, but it costs about $200.

 

Huh. I never realized that a $55 two-day subscription to TIS was an option. If that plus a $200 dongle actually lets you do things that we all think of as "dealer-only" then maybe a DIY brake job is possible? It still annoys me that this is necessary at all, but we're talking relatively infrequent stuff and it would beat the stealer. Sounds like a good research project.

 

It's another form of wallet flush, not a routine maintenance item. Don't do it.

 

The Prius doesn't have conventional brakes and you must understand the braking system. A 12 month subscription to All Data DIY is under $20

Awhile back posted the shop manual section that correctly outlines how to bleed the brakes

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...em-rear-brakes-no-pressure-when-bleeding.html

hope this helps

 

Hi Guys,
OK, I had a whopper that I fixed by jumpering. My 06 has 86,000 miles and I started hearing what I thought were the squealers on the front pads. I priced getting new pads at the local Toyota ripoff dealer and at an independent. They quoted $261 and $220 respectively, so I started reading further about doing my own. I decided first to check out the pads and verify they were worn out. I pulled the RH caliper and pads, and they have a ton of meat on them. Hmmmm. Put them back together, jack up both sides of the car, start it up and put it in drive. Same noise as before. I pull the pads again, take a closer look. Ahha! A tiny pebble lodged between the caliper bracket and the rotor. Plucked it out and then here's where the adventure started! I jumped in and fired it up to test again and pressed on the brake pedal. Arrrrgh! The piston was waaaaay out of the caliper. Used a clamp on it to squeeze it back in, put it all back together. Of course, the dash is a Christmas tree. Took it for a drive and minimal braking, no ABS, nothing. Back to Prius Chat, read about jumpering, gave that a try and worked like a charm!!! Everything back to normal. Whew!!!

 

I'm not clear: did you depress the brake pedal while a pad was out of the caliper?

 

Oh yeah I did. Soooo stupid. It was one of those things that as I put my foot on the pedal my brain knew I was screwing up but my muscle memory just kept going.

 

Did I ever mention the time I started pouring motor oil in an automatic tranny?

Anyway:
And then I guess the brake fluid leaked, and the warning lights came on. Ok.

I think as long as you don't bleed fluid you're ok doing pad changes. A little late in your case, I know. Maybe someone can comfirm that.

 

Honda, for comparison, spec's brake fluid replacement tri-yearly, regardless of mileage. I think they're concern is that it deteriorates, accumulates water.